Automatic reversing and timing switch for gas-engines.



J. M. RHETT.

AUTOMATIC REVERSING AND T IMING SWITCH FOR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATIONFILED DEC.12,1910.

1,014,723. Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

3 SHEETSSHBET 1.

*illlllmllll J. M. RHETT.

AUTOMATIC REVERSING AND TIMING SWITCH FOR GAS ENGINES.

1 APPLICATION FILED 1330.12, 1910. lfilfi u Patented J an. 16, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. M. RHETT.

AUTOMATIC REVERSING AND TIMING SWITCH FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION LEILED 1320.12, 1910. 1,014,723. Patented Jan. 16,1912.

3 SHQBETS-SHEET 3.

pertains to make and use the the timer; and

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AUTOMATIC REVERSING AND TIMING SWITCH FOR GAS-ENGINES:

Specification-10f Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 16, 1912.

Application filed December 12, 1916. Serial No. 596,933.

citizen of the United States, residing at Beaufort, in the county ofBeaufort and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Automati'c Reversing and Timing Switches forGas-Engines; and following to be a full, scription of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apsame.

This invention relates, to automatic switches for reversing gas engines,and has for its object to improve the switch shown in my prior Patent#950,704,'dated March 1, 1910, as well as the switch disclosed in endingapplication #587,276, filed my- October 15, 1910, and" entitledautomatic g s engines.

reversing switch for With' these ends in view, the invention consists inthe novel combinations of parts and details of construction morefullyhereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims. Nv

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisSpecification in which like numerals refer to like parts in all the.

is a diagrammatic view showing the circuits and the essential featuresof my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the governor portion oftheinvention with certain parts shown in section; Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view of the parts shownin F ig. 2 with certain of the partsshown in elevation; Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the timing switchand governor mechanism showing a gear connection to the views :Figure 1engine; Fig. 5 1s asectional view of. the

timing switch; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectionalview of a portionof the disks of- 1s a detail view show-- 1 induction 00114, as seen inFig. 7 ing the armature in its locked position.

1 represents any suitable source of current, 2 a conductor leadingtherefrom, from which extend the. branches 3 to the induction coiis v4or other transformers.

The current, afte r passing through the branches 3, leaves the saidinduction coils the conductors 5', and fromthe-conas by ductors 5the'said current passes to wires 6. Gucci said wires 6 is joined to thewire 7' which leads to the terminal 8. of the timer 9. .The terminal 8,as best in Figs. 4 and 5, is connected as by the concluster 10, to aseries of other terminals I do hereby declare the clear, and exactdeshown 11, 12, 13 and 14, each of which normally contact, as shown inFig. 5, with non-conducting rings 15, 16, 17', 18 and 19, respectively.Each of the non-conducting rings to 19 is associated with conductingrings 20, provided with oiisets or tongues 21 distributed in a spiralmanner around the circumference of the cylinder of the timer, and is,therefore, angularly offset with respect to each other. The tongues 21lie in the paths of contact of the terminals 8 to 14, and, therefore, atcertain intervals each tongue 21 makes electrical contact with saidterminals 8 to 14, as will be clear from Fig. 5.

Normally contacting with' the conducting rings are the terminals 22, 23,24, 25 and 26, so that whenever the terminals 8 to 14 make contact withtheir respective tongues 21, there is a conducting path through therings 20 to the respective terminals 22 to 26. (Jonnected to theterminals 22 to 26 are the wires 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31, respectively,

' 33, 34, and 36, over which the switch lever 1 37 is adapted to pass.The said switch lever is pivoted as at 38 and is connected as by thewire 39 to the ground 40. 41 is another ground to whichthe wire 42 isjoined, and current'may pass from the ground to the. ground '41, wire42- and wire 43 to the contact 44, wire and wire 46 back to the 37 is inthe position shown, it is evident that current may pass from the battery1 over the. main ignition circuit comprising the Wires 2, 3, 5, 6, 7terminal 8, terminal 12, tongue 21, ring 20, terminal 24, wire 29,contact 34, switch lever 37 wire 39, grounds 40, 41 and wires 42, 43,contact 44 and wires 45 and 46 back to the battery. Upon the currentthus passing through the right hand Fig. 1, an induced current will-passfrom the secondary of'said coil through the wire 50, spark plug 51 ofthe cylinder 52, wire 53 to the grounds 54 and 55, wire 56, and back to,the other end of the secondary of said coil as shown. As soon,however,as the contact of the terminal 12 passes 051 of its tongue 21,the current will "be broken, and the spark will cease in the cylinder52. As the cylinder 57 of the timer, however, continues to revolve, aseriesof terminals 58, which are in all'respects,.similar to theterminals 8 to 14, and which likewise normally contact with theinsulating which lead respectively'to the contacts 32,

battery. In other' words,if theswitch lever rings to 19, will be broughtinto successive contacts with the tongues 21, and will, therefore,afi'ord conducting paths through the rings to the terminals22 to 26,respectively. [If the lever 37 remains in the posi-- tion shown'inFig.1, immediately after the spark has passed in cylinder 52, as abovede- 15' grounds 40 and 41 and wires 42 to 46 back to the battery, sothat an induced current will pass through the wire 60, spark plug 61,cylinder 62 and grounds 54, 55 and wire 56, back to the said middleinduction coil. -In

- like manner, as the cylinder 57 of the timer continues to revolve, aseries of terminals 63,

in all respects like the terminals 8 to 14,

will be likewise brought into contact with the conducting tongues 21.When this happens, supposing the parts to remain in the position shownin Fig. 1, a current will pass from the battery 1, over the mainignition circuit comprising the wire 2, through the terminal of the lefthand induction coil 4,

shown in Fig. 1, through the wires 6 and to a terminal of the series 63,also corresponding to the terminal 12 in Fig. 5. When the proper tongue21 makes contact with this said terminal in the series 63, a currentwill accordingly pass through the wire 29, the lever 37 and over thepath previously described back to the battery, so that an inducedcurrent will pass over the wire 64, through the spark plug andcylinder66 to the ground 54 and back over the wire 56 to complete thesecondary circuit.

It is evident that so long as the lever 37 remains in the positionshown, and the cylinder 57 of the timer continues to revolve, sparkswill successiyely pass through the spark plugs 51, 61 and 65 of theirrespective cylinders. In other words, it is evident that so longas theparts :remain undisturbed the engine will continue to run. Now supposingit is desired to increase or to retard the speed of the-engine, which isusually accomplished by advancing or retarding the spark, it is onlynecessary ,to throw the lever 37 down or up, as shown in Fig. 1. That isto .say, suppose the lever 37 to be moved downv wardly so as to touchthe contact 33, then the circuits above. disclosed will pass over thewire 28, and through the terminals 11 and 23, so' that the spark will beslightly ad- .vanced over those produced when the terminals 12 and 24are in circuit. In the same way if the lever 37 is thrown down until ittouches the contact 32, the circuits above disclosed will include thewire 27, and the teringly slowed down. In allcases, however,

no matter on what contact the lever 37 may. happen to rest, the speed ofthe engine will remain constant so long as it is on that contact. As iswell known, it is also customary to reverse gas engines by cutting outthe sparking, and restablishing the same before the pistons completetheir strokes. In order to thus reverse an engine equipped with myinvention, I. provide the 5 ring contacts 70 and 71, connectedrespectively by'the wires 72 and 73 to the wire 74, leading from onepole of the battery, and adapted to be brought into electricalconnection with the contacts 75 and 76, respectively. These'lattercontacts are connected as by the wires 77 and, 78, respectively, withthe wire 79 which is connected with the. coils 80 of the electro magnet81, and which in turn are connectedas by the wire 82 to the plug 83, andby the wire 46 to the other pole of the battery. It is evident that ifthe spring contact 70, for example, should be thrown against the contact75, either by pushing the sparking in the engine, and, therefore, the

fly wheel of the same will slow downL When the armature 84 is thusattractedby themagnet 81, the latch 94 pivoted at will, under theinfluence of its spring 101, force its nose 102 behind the hook-likeprojection 98 of said armature and into the position shown in Fig. 7.-When said nose is thus positioned although the current may be cut offthrough the magnet, the armature cannot move sufliciently far toward theright, as seen in Figs. 2 and 7, to cause the circuit to be made at thecontact 44. As the fly wheel 89 continues to slow down, the spring 90controlling the centrifugal balls 91 and the movable nose 92 of theengine I governor will force said nose 92 toward the right as seen inFig. 3, and will cause the' said nose finally to contactwiththe arm orprojection 93 of the said latch 94, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig.2. When this happens, the said latch 94 willbe swung on its pivot 100,in a counter clockwisetdirection, and thereby release its nose 162.

, spring. It

from: contact with the hook-like projection 98 of saidarmature, andpermit said armature t-GTBSUIHQ the full line position shown in Figs. 1and 2, and in which position the circuit .fromthe contacts 4 1, 85 ismade. When this happens, the said hook-like projection 98 will be infrictional contact with the-said nose 102, as plainly indicated in Fig.2, and in order that the movement of the armature 8st to said full lineposition shall be as quick as possible, and shall be done withcertainty, I preferably provide a spring such as 95, which is secured atone end tothe post 103, and at its other end to a portion 104 of saidarmature, and I also pro- 'vide a set screw 105 contacting with saidspring95 betweenithe'points 103 and 104, and adapted to regulate thetension of said is evident that the pressure of the spring 95 will bedirected: upon said armature 84, to the left as seen in Fig. 2 of-thepivot 97 of said armature, and that, therefore, said spring 95 willforce said armature over to the right or into its full line position, asseen in Fig. 2. When said armature 84, however, reaches the full lineposition shown, the contacts 441 and 85 being made, sparking will beresumed in the cylinders owing to the operation above disclosed.

The width of the lever 37 is preferably so chosenthat when it causes thecontact to touch the contact 75, it is sufiiciently wide to still be inelectrical connection with the contact 32, and thereby avoid breakingthe mainline circuit at the. point 32. in the same way when said lever37 forces the contact 71 into electrical connection with the contact 76,the main line circuit is preferably still'made at; the contact 36. Theefl'ect of; thus not breaking the main line circuit at the contact 32and 36 is to cause the sparking to immediately start when the engine.has. slowed down sufiiciently to remake the main line circuit betweenthe points A and 85. This would not be the case shouldthe lever 37 betoo narrow to maintain its connection with the contacts 32 and36, andshould the operator throw said lever to one of its extreme positions andleave it there.

As there is usually a mark on the fly wheel which denotes when. thepiston is up, it is evident that the parts may be so timed as tocausethe sparking to begin again at any portion of the stroke of thepiston desired. It being of course understood that thegovernor is eitherrun by reason of one of its parts such as the disk 110 being'in contactwith the fly wheel 89, or that some other suitable connection isemployed be tween a movable part of the engine and a suitableportionofthe governor. In fact, in Fig. 4:, I have shown a rod 112, which may beconnected in any suitable manner with any suitable movable part of'theengine, which rod operates the timer,

and is provided with a gear 113, meshing with a gear 114i, carried bythe rod 115, provided with the gear 116, meshing with the gear 117,which in turn is connected with and operates the governor 118.

The operation of my invention will be clear from the foregoing, but maybe'briefly summarized as follows :So long as the lever 37, shown in Fig.1, touches one of the contacts 32 to 36, sparking in the cylinder orcylinders of the engine will continue, and whenever said switch 37 ismoved from one contact 32 to another contact 33, 3 1, 35 or 36, thesparking will be advanced or retarded in said cylinders according to thedirection of saidmovement, and thereby the speed of the engine will beincreased or decreased accordingly. Also when one of the springs 70 or71 is momentarily thrown against its contact 75 or 76, as the case maybe, either by hand, or by moving the lever 37 over against such springs70 or 71, then the magnet 81 will be energized, and the mainsparkingcircuit will be broken at the contacts 4-1, 85. Since the current whichcauses the initial breaking of the sparking circuit is momentary, thesaid main circuit woui'd be immediately reestablished were it not forthe fact that the nose 102 of the latch 94 will be forced immediatelybehind the hook-like extension 98 of the armature 84, and hold saidcontacts 1 1 and 85 separated as best shown in Fig. 7. The main sparkingcircuit will be thus held open, until the engine slows down sufficientlyto cause the. nose 92 of it'sgovernor to swing said latch 94 in such adirection as to release the armature 84, and to permit its controllingspring 95 to reestablish the main circuit be tween the points 14 and 85.The parts are so timed that the restablishment of the main circuit takesplaceat that portion of the stroke as will cause a reversal of theengines. g

It will be observed that the timing device and its controlling switch 37is of generalapplication, and may be used with or without the reversingmechanism, and it is likewise evident thatthe reversing mechanism may beused with or without this particular timing mechanism. In fact, it isfurther evidentthat the switch controlling the advancement orretardation-ott-he sparking may bein one portion of a boat or'anautomobilev and thexrevers-ing mechanism may be located at some otherpoint. But, of course, it will generally be most convenient to locate.both :the reversing switch or timing switch at or near the same'point.However, it is further evident that a plurality of reversing or timingswitchescould be located at difiierent points of the boator other movingvehicle.

-" magnetic means for breaking said circuit;

' means for holding said cirqiit open; and a governor operated bythel'gine adapted to move said last mentioned means when said ,en'gineslows down and thereupon permit said circuitto be closed, substantiallyas described.

2.11: a reversing switch for gas engines, ;the combination of a main.ignition circuit;

magnetic means comprising an armature for breaking said circuit; meanscomprising a latch for'locking said armature and there- 'uponholdingsaid circuit open; and a governor o erated by the engine adapted to movesaid latch andthereupon permit said QQKcircuit to be closed,substantially as described.

In a reversing switch for gas engines, thecombination of a main ignitioncircuit;

a timer in said circuit; a magnetically coni so; trolled contact in saidcircuit; a latch adapted to hold said contact in its open position;

and a governor operated by the engine adapted to move saidlatch andpermit said I v circuit to be reclosed at a predetermined pc- 85 riod ofthe stroke of the piston, substantially as described. I e

' 4. In a reversing switch for gas engines,

the combination of a main ignition circuit;

a'timer in said circuit; means for causin 40 saldtlmer to advance or. toretard the spar as desired; contacts for controlling said circuit; anarmature; a contact controlled by said armature adapted to break saidcircu'it; a latch adapted to hold said contact inits, open circuitposition; and a governor operated by the engine adapted to move saidlatch and permit said circuit to be reclosed at a predetermined periodof the stroke of the piston, substantially as described.

In a reversing switch for gas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit; a revolving-timer provided with a plurality of.contacts in said circuit; means for causing said contacts to be made atdifierent periods during the revolution of said timer and thereupon toadvance or to retard the sparking as desired; contacts for controllingsaid main circuit; an armature; a contact controlled by said armatureforbreaking said circuit; a spring controlled latch said last mentionedcontact in s for holdin ;..its open c1rcuit position; and a governoroperated by said engine for moving said latch out of its lockingposition, substan- 5 tially as described.

6. In an automatic reversing switch for gas engines, the combination ofamain ignition circuit; a contact for controlling said circuit; a latchfor holding said contact in its open circuit position; a governor foroperating said latch to release said contact; and a spring for causingsaid contact to close said circuit after said governor has released saidlatch, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic reversing switch for gas engines, the combination ofa main ignition circuit; a timer provided with a plurality of contactsin said' circuit; a switch provided with a plurality of contactsconnected to'said timer contacts; means for con- 30 necting any one ofsaid last mentioned contacts in said circuit; and-'magne-tic meanscontrolled by said last mentioned means for causing said circuit to bebroken, substantially as described. I

8. In an automatic switch for gas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit;

a timer provided with a plurality of contacts so located when made as toaid in advancing or retarding the sparking; said timer also comprising aplurality of switch contacts connected with said timer contacts; andmeans to join at will any one of said switch contacts in said circuit,substantially as described.

9. In an automatic switch forgas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit; and a timer provided with a urality of contactsangularly displaced w ith -relation to each other adapted when made toadvance 10.0 or to retard'the sparking, said timer also having aplurality of switch contacts connected with said timer contacts, andcomprising a lever to join at will any one of said switch contacts insaid circuit, substantially as described.

10. In an automatic switch for gas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit; a timer provided with means for advancing or retardingthe sparking joined in said circuit; and a reversing switch mechanismalso joined in said circuit, said timer provided with means common toboth said spark advancing means and said reversing mechanism for joiningeither at will in said circuit, substantially as described.

11. In a reversing switch for gas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit; magnetic means for breaking said circuit; means forholding said circuit open; a governor operated means adapted to movesaid last mentioned means and thereupon permit said circuit to beclosed; and a switch adapted to close a circuit through said magneticmeans while maintaining the main ignition circuit, substantially asdescribed.

12. In a reversing switch for gas engines, the combination of a mainignition circuit;

a timer in said circuit; an armature; a contact controlled by saidarmature adapted to break said circuit; a latch to hold said contact inits open circuit position; a governor operated by the engine adapted tomove said latch and permit said circuit to be reclosed at apredetermined period; and a switch controlling. the circuit passingthrough said magnet and adapted to n-laintain the main ignition circuitwhile closing said-magnetic circuit substantially. as described.

l3.' in a reversing switch for gas engines,

the combination of a main ignition circuit;

means comprising' an electro-mag'net for breaking said circuit; meanscomprising an.

engine actuated device and an armature for closing said circuit atapredetermined period of the stroke of the piston; and a timer in saidcircuit, substantially as described.

14. In a reversing switch for gasengines the combination of a mainignition circuit;

'electro-magnetic means for breaking said circuit; means comprising anvengine actuated device for closing said circuit at a predeterminedperiod of the stroke of the pisston; a timer in said circuit; and meansassociated with said timer and electro magnetic means for retarding oradvancing the spark, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Iv aflix my signature, in presence of twoWitnesses.

JAMES M. RHETT Witnesses DANIEL MANN, Pnoc'ron GLovER.

